Oh hell yes. Look at that kid right there! The tie says, “business,” the peacoat says, “style” and those boots say, “outta my effing way, dudeson. I ain’t got time for no crybaby antics, son. I don’t care if you are the frigid morning air or icy sidewalks or the fact that I am still ridiculously tired because I stayed up late watching Apprentice reruns when I should have been sleeping. Balderdash!” But in all honesty, I do not rock my Red Wings as much as I should. Today, though? Today just felt right to do so. Ands I’m glad I did. Super comfortable, wickedly durable, and the color is just bar none. Nothing like a shade of light chestnut among shades of blues and grays to make the outfit pop. I’d be lying if I said I haven’t already gotten a plethora of compliments on these ass-kickers… Same people who said something about the panda sweater. I’m just throwing the world for a loop. Now almost a year old, these Gentleman Travelers were WELL worth the price point. I recommend them highly. Also, every item on me I suggest checking out. Wharf and Pierrepont Hicks especially. You already know J. Crew and Levi’s and H&M.

In my prior life, I might just have been an eleventeen year-old girl as I have had an affinity for all things panda for as far back as I can remember. It’s what I named one of my first solo projects after (if you know me, you’ll get the title of this post better), it’s what I have been for Halloween, and the love of the animal is what initially drew me towards the fine product of Enjoi. Though the antics of Jerry Hsu, Louie Barletta, Colt Cannon, Caswell Berry, Jose Rojo and Marc Johnson (now gone) kept my attention, I was on a quest back in my skating daze to acquire most of their collection. So, when i was cleaning out my closet recently (you can’t tell from the picture), I was pretty stoked to come upon the Enjoi Panda Sweater that took me a LONG time to find back in the day.

So, with that in mind, kill some time watching Louie Barletta’s spot from Enjoi’s first video, Man Down. My fave point comes at 1:23….

Man, I really don’t know what happened last night, but I was only able to score maybe 3 hours of sleep in between some of the most messed up dreams I have ever had. It could be from the momentous weekend or the anxiousness of getting back to work today. That, and for whatever reason, this Leslie Nielsen death is hitting me quite hard. I actually choked up telling my father the bad news last evening. The Naked Gun trilogy as well as the old Police Squads were a special thing to my brothers and my father and me. He took us to see NG at such an early age, I had no idea what some of the jokes meant. Now, obviously, I get them, but I gotta hand it to him… He’s a pretty cool dad to have taken his children to see those flicks back then.
So, with the tip of my hat to one of the bygone comedic geniuses of our era, and of those prior, I say, thank you Mr. Nielsen for so many moments that brought not only smiles to this kid’s face and laughs to my soul, but for also providing my family with quotes that will serve as inside jokes for years and years to come.

“Hey! You call this slop? Real slop has got chunks in it! This is more like gruel! And this Château le Blanc ’68 is supposed to be served slightly chilled! This is room temperature! What do you think we are, animals?”

I had a truly nautical morning in the great land-locked state of Colorado. I woke a few minutes before “Hate to Say I Told You So,” by The Hives started playing, indicating the alarm on my phone going off. I pulled myself from the warm sheets and was met with the crisp morning air wafting in from my open bedroom window. Maybe it was the massive nights and perfect days of the past weekend that put me in such a good mood early today, but I was raring to go well before 5:30AM. I went through my normal routine (hair/teeth/body/etc), threw on a new Lands’ End Canvas shirt, some nice denim, tie, a pair of Sebagos I found while searching for a pair of boots for my costume this weekend, and the Gant Rugger Toggle, perhaps one of my new favorite pieces, grabbed my umbrella and hit the street for the walk to the bus. The November air was fresh as I walked through the rain failing miserably at not humming the G n’ R hit by the same atmospheric event name.

Feeling quite the Paddington Bear, I picked up the pace of my walk although I didn’t much want the journey to end. The smell of the Autumn air combined with the sounds of the cars passing by on wet asphalt… I admit that on my trek, I skipped a few times. Takes a big man to admit to skipping, unless you’ve seen me go down stairs. Inside joke….

Happy November all. Who is participating in that beard-growing for Cancer endeavor? Continue reading →

While I have been informed that Otis James doesn’t actually have a shop in Nashville, I am told there is an off-chance of meeting up with him and perusing his portfolio of fine neckwear. Yeah, you heard correct. I still haven’t made it out that way after much talk of it in the recent past. Seems the “buddy pass” is really anything but. Now with an actual flight booked, I shall finally grace the streets of Tennessee the first weekend of February. Much is planned, including that behind-the-scenes tour of the Country Music Hall of Fame, and I am assured I will return to Denver with a little more than a good deal of my bank account missing.

Plaid. More Plaid.

But if I’ve said it once, I’ve said it 1000 times: You only get one go on the carousel of life, so why not spend it if you got it? That said, why wouldn’t you buy a Mini Cupcake Maker? For that matter, the Big Johnson book is only a whopping $10. I say, if you want it, get it. If you want to save, save. I am not here to tell you how to live. I’m just pointing you towards items that have the high probability of making your life insanely better. And what I have learned over the past year or so is one can never have enough plaid…or cupcakes. Fingers crossed for that Otis James hookup. Full report to come.